alchemy的词源

英文词源

alchemy

alchemy: [14] Alchemy comes, via Old French alkemie and medieval Latin alchimia, from Arabic alkīmīā. Broken down into its component parts, this represents Arabic al ‘the’ and kīmīā, a word borrowed by Arabic from Greek khēmíā ‘alchemy’ – that is, the art of transmuting base metals into gold. (It has been suggested that khēmīā is the same word as Khēmīā, the ancient name for Egypt, on the grounds that alchemy originated in Egypt, but it seems more likely that it derives from Greek khūmós ‘fluid’ – source of English chyme [17] – itself based on the verb khein ‘pour’).

Modern English chemistry comes not directly from Greek khēmíā, but from alchemy, with the loss of the first syllable.
=> chemistry, chyme

alchemy (n.)

mid-14c., from Old French alchimie (14c.), alquemie (13c.), from Medieval Latin alkimia, from Arabic al-kimiya, from Greek khemeioa (found c.300 C.E. in a decree of Diocletian against "the old writings of the Egyptians"), all meaning "alchemy." Perhaps from an old name for Egypt (Khemia, literally "land of black earth," found in Plutarch), or from Greek khymatos "that which is poured out," from khein "to pour," related to khymos "juice, sap" [Klein, citing W. Muss-Arnolt, calls this folk etymology]. The word seems to have elements of both origins.

Mahn ... concludes, after an elaborate investigation, that Gr. khymeia was probably the original, being first applied to pharmaceutical chemistry, which was chiefly concerned with juices or infusions of plants; that the pursuits of the Alexandrian alchemists were a subsequent development of chemical study, and that the notoriety of these may have caused the name of the art to be popularly associated with the ancient name of Egypt. [OED]

The al- is the Arabic definite article, "the." The art and the name were adopted by the Arabs from Alexandrians and thence returned to Europe via Spain. Alchemy was the "chemistry" of the Middle Ages and early modern times; since c. 1600 the word has been applied distinctively to the pursuit of the transmutation of baser metals into gold, which, along with the search for the universal solvent and the panacea, were the chief occupations of early chemistry.

中文词源

alchemy：炼金术

发音释义：['ælkɪmɪ] n. 炼金术；点金术；魔力

结构分析：alchemy = al（定冠词）+chemy（炼金术）→炼金术

词源解释：chemy←阿拉伯语kimiya←埃及的古称Khemia（黑土地）

背景知识：在古代，有很多人希望能找到一种方法，将普通金属变为金子。这种方法就是所谓的炼金术。现代化学就是从古代炼金术发展起来的。据说炼金术最早在古埃及兴起，alchemy一词就来自阿拉伯语al-kimiya，其中al是阿拉伯语中的定冠词，相当于英语中的the。

同源词：alchemist（炼金术士），chemistry（化学），chemical（化学的），chemist（化学家）

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：alchemy 词源，alchemy 含义。

alchemy：炼金术

来自阿拉伯语。al, 阿拉伯定冠词. 词根chem, 注入，同词根found, 注入，见confound，困惑的。现代化学由炼金术发展而来。

alchemy：炼金术

来源于阿拉伯语alkimya(炼金术),其中al-在阿拉伯语中是定冠词,-kimya来源于希腊语khemia(炼金术)。

alchemy：炼金术

来自阿拉伯语al-kimya，而阿拉伯人又是借自希腊语。在阿拉伯语中，al-相当于英语的the，而chemy的本义就是“炼金术”。西方16世纪前，化学领域研究的主要方向就是尝试用不同的方法把普通金属冶炼成金子，后随着化学的发展衍生出chemistry专指“化学”。